Chapter Ten
"You're turning into that Granger girl!" Draco complained as I made my way to the library over Easter break.
"I'm obviously not," I retorted, "We just all have a lot of homework over break with final exams coming up."
"They aren't coming up! They're ages away. Ten weeks."
"You know, if we studied together, it would get done quicker and probably be more fun. Your grades aren't magnificent as it is, I've heard, so you could probably use the extra studying."
Draco glowered at me, but said nothing. What could he say? He was intelligent, but there was no denying that his grades were lacking because of the amount of effort – or lack thereof – that he was contributing.
When we finally made it to the library, Harry, Hermione, and Weasley were also there, studying. But just as Draco's face was lighting up, I steered him away. We sat down at the end of a separate aisle and began with our charms homework. We had learned four main spells, but only three of which could be practiced in the library. So along with our informational paperwork, we also practiced Lumos, Wingardium Leviosa, and Spongify.
It was Incendio that we were unable to practice because creating fires in the library was against the rules…or so I assumed, as it was never directly stated.
Draco and I had gotten a staggering amount of work done until we saw Hagrid walk by with a pile of books on dragons. Though I disliked Draco's habits of meddling with the affairs of those he disliked, there was something undeniably strange about Hagrid and his pile of books.
We exchanged glances before gathering our things. Between my curiosity and Draco's aspiration to get all involved with Weasley and Potter in trouble, there was no doubt we'd be following the gamekeeper.
"Shut up, Raven," Draco whispered as my stomach growled.
"I can't help it," I murmured back, "I'm starving. What's going on in there? What do you see?"
I was on my hands and knees in the grass while Draco stood on my back to see through the tiny window of the hut. It didn't take long before my back was aching, but any complaints were shushed or ignored.
"I don't know yet. There's some sort of rock?"
"Switch places with me," I hissed, "I want to see."
With a huff of irritation, Draco climbed down from my back. He knelt in the same spot of grass that I had taken, and I gingerly moved to stand atop his back.
"Oh my god," I whispered, peering through the foggy glass, "It's a dragon's egg."
So, every night after, we snuck out to watch Hagrid's hut. Again, while Draco was itching to get the gamekeeper in trouble, I wanted nothing more than to see a baby dragon being born. I'd only seen pictures and heard stories about how magnificent they were, even when they were minutes old.
One night, coincidentally when the trio was visiting, the egg hatched. Draco and I had piled logs against the side of the hut so we could both watch the dragon take its first breath. And also so we didn't have to stand on each other, which had become extremely uncomfortable after the second night.
Well, after the first few minutes actually, but the pain just kept getting worse.
"It's a Norwegian Ridgeback," I whispered as the beautiful creature stepped shakily onto the kitchen table that seemed miles away.
Suddenly, as Draco was trying to shift his weight to see the dragon more clearly, a log slipped out from under his foot. He fell to the ground with a loud crash, and from inside, the gamekeeper turned his gaze towards us.
Cursing, I jumped off the logs, but I was certain he'd seen me.